MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor can lift the ban on agriculture imports from Ukraine only when it receives guarantees, a spokesperson for Rosselkhoznadzor told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
"We need safe goods. If they [Ukrainian side] provide information that we have requested, then we could discuss the lifting of the ban," Alexey Alekseyenko, an assistant to the head of the watchdog said. "But they must present convincing guarantees that agricultural products would not be of unknown origin and not from third countries."
Last week, Rosselkhoznadzor requested Ukraine to provide information concerning the country's agriculture and harvest in various regions, ensuring that agricultural products supplied to Russia were produced in Ukraine before October 21.
According to Rosselkhoznadzor, some goods arriving from Ukraine could have been produced in the European Union, targeted by Russia's food imports ban, while some others failed to comply with Russia's phytosanitary standards.
Ukrainian authorities did not present the requested information and on October 21 Rosselkhoznadzor introduced a temporary ban on agriculture imports from Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Ihor Shvaika said Ukrainian farmers would lose about $17 million by the end of the year if Russia keeps its import ban on Ukrainian agricultural products, with losses for 2015 predicted to stand at $50 million to $60 million.
